Over the last weekend, a crew of people from DARC came up to the shop at Wareham and worked creating a special purpose area for our iron smelting.
The work crew consisted of Neil, Dave, Kevin, Ken, Selena, Karen and Vandy.
A few images of the results are posted up :
http://www.warehamforge.ca/temp/smeltarea
The new smelter area is wonderful. Rail ties were installed at the natural edge of the high water line on the pond. The small slope that defines the pond area was cut back and revetted. The area between these two lines was leveled. An overhead cover of sheet steel supported by four posts was constructed. Some finishing work like installing steps to the work area was completed. The flattened area under the roof is roughly 10 x 10 feet. You can see our next smelter inside the metal forms, which will give an idea of scale.
The intent is to build a pit style forge in the centre at upper ground level for re-heating blooms for consolidation and cutting to hand forgeable pieces. The use of the loose concrete blocks will allow us to install a second smelter on the left hand as desired latter on.
I set the distance on the side poles at 8 feet. This will allow me to block in the sides come winter with a couple of pieces of wafer board. With addition of a tarp on the pond side in theory this should break the wind and hold enough heat from the smelter to allow us to work later into the winter if we are inspired to.
Kevin led the group in constructing the shell for the smelter. This is set into the earth bank. Once the clay has firmed up and the forms removed, the gap between the cob cylinder was be packed with the usual mix of ash and sand. Other than that, only setting the tuyere and cutting the tap arch remains to be done. This is intended to be a re-usable smelter, something we tested last year. This smelter is a bit taller than last years series, combining what was learned from Jormungund at Smeltfest 06 earlier in the year.
http://www.warehamforge.ca/temp/smeltarea/smelter03.jpg
- shows the construction. The paper clinging to the surface serves as a release from the sheet metal form used.
Our next smelt is planned for June 10. Kevin and Dave are the smelt masters. I will trouble shoot as needed, but mainly want to shoot some video and better still photos of the process.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
COURSES - update
Just a fast note to those interested in the upcoming courses at the Wareham Forge:
June 3 / 4 - Iron Smelting - CANCELED
As of todays date I have had no requests about this program. As the raw materials for the smelt cost $300, I require at the full four students to go ahead with this course. Unless something radically changes over the next couple of days - this course is CANCELED
June 16 / 17 / 18 - Introduction - ONE remaining
As of todays date, I have a total of THREE paid deposits for this program. This leaves only ONE place remaining. If you are interested, you should e-mail or phone me right away to arrange for a deposit ($100) by either paypal or your credit card.
July 8 / 9 - BLADESMITHING - spaces OPEN
As in past years, I let the exact content of this course date be determined by student interest (as expressed by deposits!). I have had ONE paid deposit / request for the 'BASIC BLADESMITHING' program. As of todays date, this leaves THREE spaces open. Register with your deposit today.
For more information on the courses offered:
www.warehamforge.ca/train.html
Darrell
June 3 / 4 - Iron Smelting - CANCELED
As of todays date I have had no requests about this program. As the raw materials for the smelt cost $300, I require at the full four students to go ahead with this course. Unless something radically changes over the next couple of days - this course is CANCELED
June 16 / 17 / 18 - Introduction - ONE remaining
As of todays date, I have a total of THREE paid deposits for this program. This leaves only ONE place remaining. If you are interested, you should e-mail or phone me right away to arrange for a deposit ($100) by either paypal or your credit card.
July 8 / 9 - BLADESMITHING - spaces OPEN
As in past years, I let the exact content of this course date be determined by student interest (as expressed by deposits!). I have had ONE paid deposit / request for the 'BASIC BLADESMITHING' program. As of todays date, this leaves THREE spaces open. Register with your deposit today.
For more information on the courses offered:
www.warehamforge.ca/train.html
Darrell
Coins and Coin Dies
I recently had a inquiry about creating a set of replica Viking Age coin dies. The questioner was wanting to use the dies as part of a living history presentation, and wanted to be able to hand out the coins produced free. This is a general interest version of my reply...
There are two elements to this project - the dies and the disk blanks
On the dies:
I should warn you right up front that I have been ACID ETCHING the patterns in - rather than engraving them. I've tried engraving a couple of times (and did make one set of simple dies that way) - but truthfully have NOT had a lot of luck with the technique. Engraving is its own specialized skill, and requires special tools to undertake correctly.
On my own dies (for the coins seen on the web site) I quite purposely reversed the impressions. I have raised letters and lines - which cut into the disk surface. This was done to create an obvious point of difference between the replicas and the artifacts. (concern over counterfeit) Note that with the acid etch method, it is easily possible to create the more correct incised lines. The etched dies do have a physical action a bit different than engraved ones. Engraved lines are triangular in cross section, so the metal is forced into a sharp peak. Etched lines are somewhat circular in cross section, so do not produce quite the crisp lines as would have been on artifact coins when new.
I have also mirror imaged the patterns for the same reason (thus two points of difference).
Second part of the dies is the physical shape of the metal itself. I have two sets of dies I use for the two different coins seen on the web site. The first (for the York coins) was made as a 'production' die. It is constructed from a blank of 1045 tool steel. This means the dies are quite durable, my own set has made several thousand impressions in the 12 plus years since I created them. But these are straight polished cylinders of clean steel.
My second set of dies are replicas of the actual dies found at Coppergate. (Mind you - they do have a different pattern on them). These are forged from mild steel. The artifact dies have been upset to one end then forged down to a square tapered peg. Before the etching, I water hardened the mild steel - with sequential hardness towards the base / striking end. So these copy the FORM of the period dies.
I will (and have) created dies both as production and reproduction level of detail, for individuals and museum programs. If anyone out there is seriously interested, please contact me directly. Price is in the hundreds - not thousands (!). I would prefer NOT to duplicate the patterns that I have selected for my own replica silver coins. Note that my customers for the replicas are mainly museum gift shops, as wholesale. I figure my past work in this field and a certain reputation gives me a leg up on any potential competition in that market.
Your second problem is the cost of the disk blanks
When I initially got involved in the coin project, it was primarily to provide a good physical demo at a community medieval festival (back in 92). I knew from my own work with living history, that coins were an ideal teaching tool. Once you have dies - the actual process is quick, and the other tools required are minimal. A wood block, a heavy hammer. Round out the presentation with a pan balance with weights (also available from the Wareham Forge) and a set of cutters. Lots of pop culture references here! A very solid 5 minute public presentation.
My problem, like yours, was were to get the metal disks. I did consider cutting all my own, and made up a couple of test stamps to cut 3/4 inch circles. I found that in copper the cut disks still had ragged edges, so had to be laboriously filed smooth. With a machine press, this step could be avoided - but this is an expensive tool I don't have. I also tried aluminum and sheet pewter (the tin alloy). Lead sheet worked extremely well - but although I did have a quantity of this as scrap - I certainly did NOT want to be handing out toxic materials to children!
I contacted a couple of small machine shops, and the cost per unit for disks in copper ran in the $1 each range - on a 500 to 1000 minimum order. You might see if there is a Tandys that still sells copper enamel supplies. Pre-made copper disks used to be widely available for this reason, I remember paying about .25 each for this size way back when. You might be able to hand cut 22 or 20 ga copper, but its a small circle and this would be slow (maybe ok as a demo however).
I figured at that price I'd look at real silver. I was looking for 3/4 inch size, and 22 gage thickness. This is almost exactly the size and weight of the original coins. The range of cost on this was amazing. The cheapest I could get silver disks made from a Canadian manufacturer was $2.25 each. This on an order of 50 ounces of silver (about 1500 disks)! Curiously, I did some web searching, and found an American supplier with a wholesale price considerably less. The last order I placed (about two years ago) for 10 ounces (there's a price break there) still had the disks at a price that allows me to keep my 'finished coin' price at $5 CDN loose / $7.50 CDN packaged.
www.warehamforge.ca/npenny.html
As a trade token, I only get at best one out of every 100 coins returned. Most everyone wants to keep the coins as a cool thing on its own. It only happens at the rare SCA event, and even then only the same few people. I tried to introduce the coins as trade tokens 10 years back. I offered to bankroll any area merchant who would accept the coins in trade. Although a couple agreed - none of the SCA community itself bothered with it.
And truth be told, I attend few SCA events these days, and those mainly teaching events. I rarely bother with attempting to sell anything there any more. That community does not support historically accurate replicas in the only way that counts to a skilled artisan - with purchases. You get what you pay for...
Darrell
There are two elements to this project - the dies and the disk blanks
On the dies:
I should warn you right up front that I have been ACID ETCHING the patterns in - rather than engraving them. I've tried engraving a couple of times (and did make one set of simple dies that way) - but truthfully have NOT had a lot of luck with the technique. Engraving is its own specialized skill, and requires special tools to undertake correctly.
On my own dies (for the coins seen on the web site) I quite purposely reversed the impressions. I have raised letters and lines - which cut into the disk surface. This was done to create an obvious point of difference between the replicas and the artifacts. (concern over counterfeit) Note that with the acid etch method, it is easily possible to create the more correct incised lines. The etched dies do have a physical action a bit different than engraved ones. Engraved lines are triangular in cross section, so the metal is forced into a sharp peak. Etched lines are somewhat circular in cross section, so do not produce quite the crisp lines as would have been on artifact coins when new.
I have also mirror imaged the patterns for the same reason (thus two points of difference).
Second part of the dies is the physical shape of the metal itself. I have two sets of dies I use for the two different coins seen on the web site. The first (for the York coins) was made as a 'production' die. It is constructed from a blank of 1045 tool steel. This means the dies are quite durable, my own set has made several thousand impressions in the 12 plus years since I created them. But these are straight polished cylinders of clean steel.
My second set of dies are replicas of the actual dies found at Coppergate. (Mind you - they do have a different pattern on them). These are forged from mild steel. The artifact dies have been upset to one end then forged down to a square tapered peg. Before the etching, I water hardened the mild steel - with sequential hardness towards the base / striking end. So these copy the FORM of the period dies.
I will (and have) created dies both as production and reproduction level of detail, for individuals and museum programs. If anyone out there is seriously interested, please contact me directly. Price is in the hundreds - not thousands (!). I would prefer NOT to duplicate the patterns that I have selected for my own replica silver coins. Note that my customers for the replicas are mainly museum gift shops, as wholesale. I figure my past work in this field and a certain reputation gives me a leg up on any potential competition in that market.
Your second problem is the cost of the disk blanks
When I initially got involved in the coin project, it was primarily to provide a good physical demo at a community medieval festival (back in 92). I knew from my own work with living history, that coins were an ideal teaching tool. Once you have dies - the actual process is quick, and the other tools required are minimal. A wood block, a heavy hammer. Round out the presentation with a pan balance with weights (also available from the Wareham Forge) and a set of cutters. Lots of pop culture references here! A very solid 5 minute public presentation.
My problem, like yours, was were to get the metal disks. I did consider cutting all my own, and made up a couple of test stamps to cut 3/4 inch circles. I found that in copper the cut disks still had ragged edges, so had to be laboriously filed smooth. With a machine press, this step could be avoided - but this is an expensive tool I don't have. I also tried aluminum and sheet pewter (the tin alloy). Lead sheet worked extremely well - but although I did have a quantity of this as scrap - I certainly did NOT want to be handing out toxic materials to children!
I contacted a couple of small machine shops, and the cost per unit for disks in copper ran in the $1 each range - on a 500 to 1000 minimum order. You might see if there is a Tandys that still sells copper enamel supplies. Pre-made copper disks used to be widely available for this reason, I remember paying about .25 each for this size way back when. You might be able to hand cut 22 or 20 ga copper, but its a small circle and this would be slow (maybe ok as a demo however).
I figured at that price I'd look at real silver. I was looking for 3/4 inch size, and 22 gage thickness. This is almost exactly the size and weight of the original coins. The range of cost on this was amazing. The cheapest I could get silver disks made from a Canadian manufacturer was $2.25 each. This on an order of 50 ounces of silver (about 1500 disks)! Curiously, I did some web searching, and found an American supplier with a wholesale price considerably less. The last order I placed (about two years ago) for 10 ounces (there's a price break there) still had the disks at a price that allows me to keep my 'finished coin' price at $5 CDN loose / $7.50 CDN packaged.
www.warehamforge.ca/npenny.html
As a trade token, I only get at best one out of every 100 coins returned. Most everyone wants to keep the coins as a cool thing on its own. It only happens at the rare SCA event, and even then only the same few people. I tried to introduce the coins as trade tokens 10 years back. I offered to bankroll any area merchant who would accept the coins in trade. Although a couple agreed - none of the SCA community itself bothered with it.
And truth be told, I attend few SCA events these days, and those mainly teaching events. I rarely bother with attempting to sell anything there any more. That community does not support historically accurate replicas in the only way that counts to a skilled artisan - with purchases. You get what you pay for...
Darrell
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Forges - What is is worth?
> I am trying to find out how much a forge runs. My father in North Dakota
> has a small round working forge I believe, that is about the diameter of
> a metal trash can lid. It has sat out under the eaves in front of his
> garage in Fargo for a couple of decades and recently a fellow has come by
> several times offering to buy it from him. He is so persistent that I was
> wondering what the thing is worth.
The current prices for NEW smithing equipment is best researched at the Centaur Forge web site. www.anvilfire.com/centaur
What you have is a 'farmers forge' from around the turn of the last century. These were relatively common on larger and more developed farms for fast repairs. (Like modern torches or an arc welder would be). They were sold as kits via the major catalogues - Sears Robuck in the USA, in Canada via Mr Eaton. For about $25 you got a small forge like you describe, a roughly 100 lb anvil and various hand tools. (Note that is is the source for all those smaller hobbist sized anvils now kicking around.)
The current fair price for one will depend on:
exact design
condition
relative rarity in your area
demand.
These forges come in roughly two types - an older style with a leaver and ratchet assembly that drives a leather belt to a small blower - and a newer style with a smaller blower with a hand crank. Size of the blower will effect price as well on the second type. There is also a chance that the forge was originally intended for a separate blower .
Loosely, there are two weights of bowls - ones with a heavy cast iron - and those with a thinner stamped sheet bowl. The early leaver forges will always have a heavy cast bowl. Crank blowers may come with either.
The overall condition of any attached blower or mechanical is a big factor in setting price.
In Ontario right now, a separate stamped dish forge in good condition should expect roughly $50. The light dish with small working blower runs roughly $75. Heavy dish may go in the range of $100 - $125, depending on blower and overall size.
Note that the rectangular profile forges with a full cast iron fire box set into them are considerably more.
Rarity in your area will be a big factor as to what is considered 'fair market value'.
I'd also check and see if there is a local chapter of the Artisan Blacksmith Association of North America, ABANA, in your state. They will be able to assist in finding a buyer for you as well as advising on fair pricing. Note that Blacksmiths are notoriously tight with money!
> has a small round working forge I believe, that is about the diameter of
> a metal trash can lid. It has sat out under the eaves in front of his
> garage in Fargo for a couple of decades and recently a fellow has come by
> several times offering to buy it from him. He is so persistent that I was
> wondering what the thing is worth.
The current prices for NEW smithing equipment is best researched at the Centaur Forge web site. www.anvilfire.com/centaur
What you have is a 'farmers forge' from around the turn of the last century. These were relatively common on larger and more developed farms for fast repairs. (Like modern torches or an arc welder would be). They were sold as kits via the major catalogues - Sears Robuck in the USA, in Canada via Mr Eaton. For about $25 you got a small forge like you describe, a roughly 100 lb anvil and various hand tools. (Note that is is the source for all those smaller hobbist sized anvils now kicking around.)
The current fair price for one will depend on:
exact design
condition
relative rarity in your area
demand.
These forges come in roughly two types - an older style with a leaver and ratchet assembly that drives a leather belt to a small blower - and a newer style with a smaller blower with a hand crank. Size of the blower will effect price as well on the second type. There is also a chance that the forge was originally intended for a separate blower .
Loosely, there are two weights of bowls - ones with a heavy cast iron - and those with a thinner stamped sheet bowl. The early leaver forges will always have a heavy cast bowl. Crank blowers may come with either.
The overall condition of any attached blower or mechanical is a big factor in setting price.
In Ontario right now, a separate stamped dish forge in good condition should expect roughly $50. The light dish with small working blower runs roughly $75. Heavy dish may go in the range of $100 - $125, depending on blower and overall size.
Note that the rectangular profile forges with a full cast iron fire box set into them are considerably more.
Rarity in your area will be a big factor as to what is considered 'fair market value'.
I'd also check and see if there is a local chapter of the Artisan Blacksmith Association of North America, ABANA, in your state. They will be able to assist in finding a buyer for you as well as advising on fair pricing. Note that Blacksmiths are notoriously tight with money!
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